When They Call My Name
by xSeshatx
Summary: {Oneshot} Decathlon is a big deal for Peter. Being in DC again is even bigger. Luckily, Tony was always there for him. (Part 4 of the Peter Parker: Future Hearts series)


The last time he went to Washington DC, he accidentally caused a bomb to go off in the elevator shaft of the Washington Monument and caused the police to actively target him. He almost got his friends, teammates, and teacher hurt. He almost got himself hurt. He skipped out the competition, broke a million school rules, and betrayed May's trust by sneaking off. It wasn't the greatest of times. He couldn't exactly say he was itching to go back for a second shot, but that's what was happening. His decathlon team made it to DC and he wasn't about to flake on them again.

Besides, there weren't any supervillains he had to take care of in DC or anywhere else, for that matter, so things should have went significantly smoother than the last time he went to DC.

"Parker," MJ snapped at the front of the bus, and he jumped in his seat before looking to meet her eyes. When she was in captain mode, she had no friends. She would not take pity on Peter if he dipped out on his responsibilities again, even if she probably knew he was Spider-Man. "Your turn to practice. Switch out with Flash."

He loved his friends so much, but Captain MJ did not love him. Peter gathered his things and moved to the front of the bus to take over for Flash, who tossed him the bell silently. He and Flash didn't get along still, but MJ would not put up with any arguments during practice, and Flash seemed to respect MJ enough to follow her orders even if that meant he was still first alternate. She did not start with the easy questions, instead immediately giving out trivia that even Peter had to take a moment to think of the answer before buzzing in. His hesitation mixed with his lack of self-confidence and nervousness only made his anxiety buzz uncomfortably.

Checking into the hotel was a long process for no reason. The team sat together in the lobby practicing for thirty minutes while they waited to be allowed to go up to their rooms, and that only made Peter's leg bounce faster. When they finally did make it to their rooms, everybody was too tired from the bus ride to consent to any additional practice. Ned flopped on his respective bed with a sigh. "Remember the last time we came here?" he asked, probably not expecting that to be the only thing Peter could actually think about. "Who else can say we almost successfully took out the Washington Monument?"

It seemed like Peter's endless leg jiggling and finger tapping went unnoticed because Ned had absolutely no problem speaking about one of the most uncomfortable experiences of his life. "That's not something you forget easily," Peter said, trying to brush off that conversation as quickly as possible. "I think I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me when it's time for us to meet the team in the lobby for dinner."

"You okay, dude?" Ned asked, watching as Peter took his shoes off and slid under the covers.

"Yeah. I'm tired and MJ hates us. She's gonna grill us more in a few hours. At least I can say I'm well-rested when she does."

"She doesn't hate us."

"She hates us in a good way," he amended. "You'll wake me?"

"Sure thing, man."

He didn't exactly need waking. He spent a little more than an hour under the covers trying to go to sleep, but sleep didn't exactly come to him. When he checked his phone and saw he only had another thirty minutes or so before they were supposed to meet, he started texting Tony. Because Tony took away his nerves, even if it was only slightly.

**Peter:** I forgot to let u know we made it to the hotel a little bit ago

**Tony: **I know

**Tony:** Ned let me know

**Peter:** U text my best friend?

**Tony:** We're bffs now

**Tony: **And he knows you're awake

**Tony:** He said you're too still to be asleep

**Tony:** And he doesn't know if he should be offended or not

**Tony:** He even sent a picture

_Tony has sent a picture_

Peter let out a shocked laugh. The picture Ned took was of both of them, though Peter was still under the covers and Ned was beaming at the camera while pretending to smoosh Peter's head with his fingers in the background.

**Peter:** Ur texting my best friend right now?

**Peter: **And I did plan on sleeping

**Tony: **Any reason why you can't?

**Peter:** Nah

**Peter:** Not as tired as I thought

**Tony:** Are you sure? You seemed nervous this morning

**Peter:** I'm as fine as

**Peter:** Well I couldn't think of anything clever to say there

**Peter:** But I'm fine

Very similar to the previous year, that night everybody snuck off to the pool for 'team bonding.' The difference between this year and that year was that Peter decided he would actually go, and Ned followed, too. It was a fun way to get his mind off of the nerves, if only temporary. Pool games ensured, and they even made it academic. MJ would stand outside the pool with her back to the water, ask a question from one of her notecards, and if anybody inside the pool knew the answer, they had to swim to the other side undetected. If she heard them, she'd set her card down and jump in to tag them. Whenever somebody was tagged, they were sat on the sidelines until everybody ended up tagged. The part that sucked about that was that MJ was an incredibly fast swimmer.

Peter couldn't sleep that night. At all. He tried, he really did, but nerves were keeping him far too awake for someone who spent two hours swimming. He knew it was probably not a good thing that he was so anxious about just _being_ in DC after the year before. He knew that probably fell underneath a PTSD problem, though he wouldn't admit that out loud. When he was sure Ned was asleep, he got out from under the covers and pulled out his folder of Decathlon notes to study a bit more. It was easier to pretend his nerves came from Decathlon alone rather than being in DC. Also, he had never been so far away from Tony for so long. Not after that night very shortly after May's death where the entire Avengers team travelled across the world for a mission, and that ended with a horrible panic attack that he wasn't looking forward to repeating.

There was a little bit of separation anxiety when it came to Tony, and Peter knew he should probably talk to him about that eventually. Or at least mention it to his therapist in more than just a passing, "Yeah, I don't like when I'm far away from Tony sometimes." He did talk about it more in depth with the first therapist he had, but he had to switch therapists after it became clear that there was a conflict of interest. His new therapist was nice. Extremely nice, actually. He enjoyed speaking with her once a week but talking to someone who didn't know Tony personally made it difficult, for some reason, so he kept some things to himself.

Around four in the morning, his phone started buzzing in his hand as he was scrolling through his various social media apps. Tony's name and face popped up, so he all-but ran to the bathroom so he could answer it without disrupting Ned. "Tony? What is it?" he asked, already fearing the worse. Maybe there was a danger that they needed Spider-Man's help in back home. Maybe there was a problem in DC that would require Spider-Man's help. Maybe Pepper was hurt, or maybe any of the other Avengers were hurt. Maybe Tony was hurt and someone was calling them on his phone. Peter's anxiety had gotten _so_ much better, but this was bringing him to the brink of a panic attack.

"Calm down, soldier," Tony said with a hint of seriousness mixed with the joke. "Turn on face cams." Peter did as instructed, pulling himself up to sit on the counter cross-legged, needing to stop himself from pacing. "I saw you were awake. Why is that?"

"Can't sleep," he admitted. He let the anxiety drain from his body. This wasn't a scary phone call. There was no problem to fear. "I thought you couldn't watch what I did on my phone?"

"I can see if you're using it, Pete. It's helpful when I have a kid who doesn't know how to put up the suit and get some sleep once in a while," Tony defended. "Spill it, kid. What's keeping you up?"

"I'm nervous, I guess. A lot happened the last time I was here." He avoided looking at the phone, instead choosing to pick at some strings on his pajama pants.

"You're gonna need at least some sleep for tomorrow, kid."

"I tried."

"Try again," he commanded gently. "Put some headphones in, play some quiet music so you don't focus on anything going on outside of your hotel room, and imagine yourself holding that trophy you'll win tomorrow. A few hours of sleep are better than none."

It was as good a time as ever to mention a piece of the bigger issue. Part of him wasn't pleased with how easily it was to talk to Tony about anything. After everything he went through while with Tony, the man stuck by him. They rarely even fought, and when they did, it was about Spider-Man, not anything that Peter himself did. He could decide 'I'm not gonna mention this to Tony' and then he'll see him and spill everything. The other part of him was glad he could talk to Tony about anything because talking through problems was much better than keeping them to himself. "Ever since May," Peter started (and was that the first time he said her name out loud? Maybe. It felt like it), "it's been hard to, you know, not being near you, I guess. It's like I'm on edge. It's manageable during school. Nothing too bad, really, I swear. I just check my phone a lot to make sure I'm not missing anything, and I move on with my day. But, but I'm all the way in DC. If something happens… I'm too far away."

That seemed to stun Tony enough for him to remain silent for a few moments as he obviously struggled with what to say in response. "You'll be home tomorrow," he finally said, looking as if he wanted to say so much more. "We'll talk about this more then, okay? Kick this issue now before it becomes a bigger problem later."

"I'm sorry," Peter whispered. "I know, there's always something."

"There's _always _gonna be something. We all have our issues. I still can't watch news footage of you out as Spider-Man without wanting to call my suit and meet you. Go to sleep now. I promise, I'm not leaving my bedroom anytime soon. I'm safe right here. You'll be the first person to hear otherwise."

"Thank you, Tony."

"Sweet dreams, kid."

He was the one who hung up the facetime before he leaned back against the mirror of the bathroom with a sigh. He knew going to DC was a mistake.

The nerves in his stomach only grew by the time they were gearing up to go on stage the next day. He got about an hour of sleep, he couldn't stomach breakfast, and he was pretty sure he might have accidentally snapped at Ned without realizing because it took a full hour for them to start talking again, but Ned easily accepted his apology. If it hadn't been for MJ glaring at him when he suggested that Flash took his seat, he would have stepped down. "We need you, Parker," she said. "You ditched last year. If you try to ditch again, you're off the team."

"I'm not trying to ditch," he argued. "I just…I think Flash might have passed me by."

Her glare softened, and she switched to friend MJ rather than captain MJ. She still didn't smile, though. That was rare. "You're still the smartest person I know, loser. Whatever self-doubt is running through your head right now, can it. Stick it up on a shelf, ignore it for months until it finally expires, and then toss it in the garbage with all your other baggage. Now, get ready to get on stage."

That was a pep talk if he ever heard one. "You got it," he said. They waited a few minutes for their cue, and then Peter, Ned, MJ, and Cindy all walked out on stage, taking their seats. All the noise of the place hit Peter at once and he reached for Ned's arm automatically. "There's way too much going on here, man."

"You're not gonna have a panic attack or anything, are you?" Ned asked hesitantly and worriedly.

"No, I'm not, but-"

"Woah," Ned said, cutting him off. "Is that Mr. Stark?"

Peter quickly turned back to the audience and saw, way in the back, Tony. With Tony was Natasha and Bucky. Just like that, all the anxious energy left his body, and he found himself smiling. "He didn't tell me he was coming," Peter said, unconsciously patting for his phone, momentarily forgetting that all of their phones and watches were confiscated long before they were allowed anywhere near the stage. When he caught Tony's eyes, the man smiled and gave a thumbs-up. _You can do this_.

And he could. When the competition began, he turned all of his attention to the questions being asked. No, he didn't answer every question, but he got every question he buzzed in for correct. It wasn't a runaway game for either team, but they still had a clear victory by the end, winning by four questions. The entire team ran on the stage, grabbing for the trophy and holding it in the air as they cheered. He hugged Ned, and then Ned pulled MJ into the hug, and then MJ smacked them for hugging her even though she didn't pull away.

It wasn't a surprise to see Tony, Natasha, and Bucky off to the side when they left the stage and were given their electronics back. Peter rushed forward to meet them but stopped short of giving Tony a hug. They were able to keep the adoption a secret from the media, so if he ran into Tony's arms, it would raise some questions. Instead, he stopped a few feet away, beaming at the three of them. "I didn't know you were coming," he said.

"Why would we miss it when we have the means to travel to and from DC easily?" Natasha asked, cocking her head to the side with a smug look on her face. "You looked almost as shocked as your friend did when you saw us. Certainly it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that we'd come out here to support you."

"It isn't," Peter agreed, "but nobody said anything even though there was plenty of opportunity to." He had been on the phone with Tony late the night before/early that morning, and they had been texting throughout the day, yet there was no mention of the surprise.

"There's a boy behind you," Bucky said, staring straight at Peter without even hinting at the fact that he was actually staring behind him. "He hasn't blinked since he saw us."

"If it isn't Ned, it's probably Flash."

Tony smirked. "The same Flash who has been an ass to you forever who you won't let me confront?" Peter could see the ideas running through his head on how to call out Flash and embarrass him in front of everybody. Which, obviously, was a terrible idea.

"He hasn't been that bad this year," he said immediately, stopping the potential problem dead in its tracks. He hadn't been called Penis Parker once since May died. He figured everybody felt too bad for him to keep that one up. Peter Pecker, however, has been making some appearance. He didn't take it to heart. It was bullying, sure, but he didn't think there was too much malice behind it anymore. It was more of a habit. Flash wasn't calling him out in class anymore or threatening him after school. They still had disagreements, but it was more of a personal issue rather than a bullying one which was appreciated. "I don't think he really believed I knew you, though, so this is probably more of a shock to him than it was to me."

"Looks like he's inclined to believe you now. Let's go talk to your team."

"What? Tony, no, no, no," he said, reaching to grab his arm as he walked by just for Natasha to intercept him.

"He's not gonna stop until you let him have his fun. At least take it in stride," she said.

Bucky stepped up next, smirking probably more than Tony had. "If he becomes too much, let them know about the things Tony does in his free time. Plays with his robots, sings too loud to himself, you know. You've seen him."

Never one to run away from a good-nature roasting, Peter ran after Tony. He was already with the team, shaking hands with the coach. "It's nice to see the next generation of scholars so enthusiastic about education," he was saying. "Hey, Pete, why don't you introduce me."

Well, Bucky did say 'if he becomes too much,' but it was always best to stop things before they could progress. "Mr. Stark, this is my Decathlon team." He pointed out each of the members. "You've met Ned and MJ already. And Decathlon team, this is Mr. Stark, the man who plays fetch with his robots in the lab."

The wide eyes of surprise was enough to make his risky statement worth it. Sure, Tony could embarrass him to next week and back, but it just proved that he knew Tony Stark which was what people would focus on over anything that could be said. He was in control here. "They get bored," Tony said about a second later. "That's what happens when you create Artificial Intelligences that have their own thoughts and feelings. If I have to toss things across one of my many labs just to keep them from deciding to overthrow me and take over everything, then so be it. It's probably better than actually playing catch _with _them, though, Mr. Parker, isn't it? Should I mention how you'll pet them and roll around on the floor with them? Or would it be better to talk about that time you fell asleep _in my lab_ with one of them on your lap as you hugged it?"

That was a perfect save, but Peter wasn't deterred. "Like you said, they have feelings. But, I mean, there's always…" He pulled out his phone and quickly searched through his videos to find the perfect one. He turned his phone so his team could see. Tony was wearing jeans and a beat up shirt covered in oil which was very different to his nicely-pressed suit he had been wearing at that moment. He was barefoot, working on some upgrades for something or another, and he had a little shimmy in his step as he walked. Clearly, everybody could hear him singing along to Highway to Hell, because of course he'd be singing along to that song, and his bots were moving wildly around, obviously a tad bit over excited.

After a few seconds of the video playing, Tony swiped his phone away and closed out the app. "Alright, looks like my little intern here wants to have dominance over this conversation. Fair enough," he said, raising his hands in surrender before handing Peter back his phone. "I just wanted to congratulate the lot of you on your win tonight. Parker here as told me how hard you all have been working to do well. I'm eager to see where your studies take you." Tony could not sound more like a professor if he tried. Peter tried to stifle his laughter. He was mostly successful. "I expect to see you-" he pointed at Peter "-at the internship later. It was wonderful to meet the team and, once again, congrats on your win."

It was silent for a few seconds before Flash spoke. "I can't believe you really know Tony Stark," he said, his voice portraying the awe.

"I can't believe you've really talked to Tony Stark about Decathlon," Cindy continued.

"I cannot believe that Tony Stark actually came to support you," Abe finished. Peter grinned.

Most of the team slept the entire bus ride back to New York. Everybody had been up late, woke up early, and studied themselves out. So, it was quiet, aside from the noises outside the bus and the bus itself. Peter made himself comfortable in his own seat, not planning on sleeping yet and instead listening to music. He probably could have hitched a ride with Tony back to New York, but he didn't feel like fighting with school policy over that. The school knew that Tony was his legal guardian, but it wasn't common knowledge among the teachers, and definitely not the students.

The entire team basically sleep-walked off the bus and to their parents' cars, Peter included. He walked with squinted eyes towards Tony's car, slid into the passenger seat, and let out the most obnoxious, over-dramatic groan. "Hello to you, too," Tony said.

"I'm so tired, I could die."

Tony laughed before pulling out of the parking lot. "You did good today, kiddo. I knew you could do it."

"Thank you for coming. I was sorta close to freaking out up there for a second."

"I saw that. I told Barnes you relaxed because of his calming presence. Figured he could use a self-esteem boost, too. I'm assuming you're gonna crash once we get back?"

"My teacher hates us. We didn't stop for food. I think I'm actually going to wither away. Food first, sleep second."

"Have you eaten anything?"

"Do I lie to you to appease you and break your trust in the meantime, or do I admit that I haven't eaten since yesterday?" The exaggerated look of annoyance from Tony made him relax because he likely wasn't going to get that big of a lecture. "I know I'm supposed to eat, but I can only be blamed partly for this one. I skipped breakfast. But, Harrington didn't have the bus driver stop for dinner." To be fair, it was only six o'clock. That meant it was dinnertime. But still, they hadn't had lunch, so stopping for something would have been nice. Maybe if most people were awake during the bus ride.

"What do you feel like? Homecooked meal, sit down restaurant, or the greasiest food money could buy?"

"Is it wrong to suggest McDonalds? Because I think I could die for a double cheeseburger right now."

"That is the third reference to death this entire conversation, kid. Maybe tone it down a bit."

Guilt immediately overtook all of his emotions, but he chose not to comment on it. He'd just make a better selection of words. Like Tony had said to him on the phone the previous night, they all had their issues. He couldn't blame Tony for not liking death jokes all the time. "Sorry. McDonalds?"

"I'm happy you suggested that because I think I'm in the mood for high cholesterol."

When they made it back to the Tower, each with a bag of McDonalds, they made themselves comfortable on the couch. Peter laid with his head on the rest and his feet tucked behind where Tony sat. They ate in silence for a short while as they watched a reality show titled Storage Wars (because, honestly, sometimes the best things to watch on television is the fake reality shows), but Tony finally spoke up. "We should talk about it," he said.

It didn't take much thought for Peter to know what Tony was referring to. "I know."

"Should I start?" he asked, and Peter nodded. "I talked this problem through with a few people. I should have asked you first, and I'm sorry for not doing so, but I did it more for me than for you because you and I are gonna work through this problem without their help, but I needed some insight on how I should handle it. Is that okay?"

"Sure," he said. He didn't care too much about who knew. It was probably an obvious problem anyways.

"It was always expected that there was some separation issues when it came to you. Honestly, I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up until now, but this is also the first time in a very long time that we didn't fall asleep in the same building. You know that what you're feeling is okay, right? Because it is. With what you've been through, I'd be shocked if you didn't end up having some sort of separation anxiety. Is there anybody else you experience this with?"

He tapped out a random rhythm on his side as he thought about that. "Not to the same extent," he finally settled on. "I mean, I get nervous if I don't hear from Ned once a day, and I don't like waking up just to find out someone went on a mission and I hadn't known about it, but I guess that's all minor, right? I don't freak out or anything because of it. The longer between hearing from people, the worse it gets, but again, it's never been so bad."

"Just with me, then?"

"Yeah."

"We can work with that," Tony said, and he sounded relieved. "I'd say for as far as problems go, this is one of the most manageable. I mean, I, too, would be uncomfortable if I was away from somebody as spectacular, smart, good-looking, and funny as I am. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. I'm the whole package."

And Peter laughed at that, throwing some fries in his general direction. It was nice, addressing a problem only for it to be taken lightly. He didn't think he could handle anymore emotional breakdowns. Tony took it in stride, too, just like he took everything else. Each day, their relationship felt more and more like father and son. It didn't always feel like Tony was just watching him, waiting for him to be needed again. It was hard to not look at Tony like a dad when he did such dad things like asking him if he brushed his teeth and if he finished his homework. Glorified dad questions.

He didn't expect things to be going so well after only a little bit more than half a year. No part of him, surprisingly, felt guilty for how he handled things, at least not with the guilt directed to May. Sure, he felt guilty for just jumping into Tony's life, but the man always made him feel welcomed. More than welcomed, even. Wanted.

After all, not just anybody would show up in DC just to watch his team win the championship.


End file.
